Greens urge Rachel Reeves to deliver real change  

Greens call on chancellor to:  

  • Raise taxes on the very wealthiest to help fund a better future for everyone  
  • Avoid more austerity by another name 

Ahead of today’s Budget, co-leader Carla Denyer said: 

“We need to see Labour use this opportunity to make some bold decisions.  

“Fourteen years of Tory underinvestment in our NHS, our schools, care for our elderly loved ones have left our public services crumbling around us and in a state of crisis. We deserve better. We demand better. 

“It’s clear that the country just can’t afford more austerity under a different name. Labour campaigned on a manifesto of change – so now it’s time to deliver.  

“Real change that people will see around them in a tangible way – in the hospitals they visit when they’re ill, in their kids’ education, in affordable and reliable bus services to get around. 

“Real change is a political choice. The money to fund our public services is available. By taxing the very wealthiest a little more we can fund a better future for everyone.   

“Let’s see if Labour can deliver.”


/ by Green Party

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Green Council leaders call for funding boost in Budget

Ahead of the Labour government’s first Budget on Wednesday, Green Party Council leaders are warning of the urgent need for proper funding for local councils and services, after many years of damaging austerity.  

Local Government Association analysis shows that service spending in 2022/23 was 42.1% lower than it would have been had service spend moved in line with cost and demand pressures since 2010/11. This means that councils have made £24.5 billion in service cuts and efficiencies over this period [1]. 

Local councils deliver a huge range of statutory services, from child protection to waste and recycling services and temporary accommodation. They are also uniquely placed for real action on achieving net zero and to protect and restore other services vital to health and wellbeing in the community such as sports, arts, leisure and green spaces.  

Tony Dyer, Green leader of Bristol City Council, said: 

“Local Government provides many of our most essential services, from social care, to education and affordable housing. After years of cuts, if we do not see a real terms increase in local government funding then these services will falter and our communities will suffer.

“We desperately need a boost to our funding to enable proper resourcing of core and statutory services, especially those creating the most pressure on council finances such as adult social care, children services such as SEND, and temporary accommodation provision.”  

Caroline Topping, Green leader of East Suffolk Council, said: 

“As Green Party leaders of local Councils, we welcome the new government’s manifesto commitment to multiyear funding settlements and an end to wasteful competitive bidding, which has stressed already overstretched officer capacity and council resources. Even successful bids have often come with strings attached and time scales that hamper delivery. We expect and look forward to a completely new relationship which puts council funding on a secure and sustainable footing.” 

Emily O’Brien, Cabinet Member for Climate, Nature and Food Systems on Green-led Lewes District Council, said: 

“Funding for council-led home insulation programmes is an example of the win-win that Councils can help deliver – cutting both carbon emissions and household energy bills. We have worked hard with neighbouring Councils to maximise insulation with the limited resources we have. National funding will immediately accelerate this and deliver savings and comfort to our tenants.”

Ellie Chowns, Green MP for North Herefordshire and former cabinet member for environment, economy and skills on Herefordshire Council, said:

“After so many years of austerity, local councils absolutely need the funding to deliver those basic services which everyone uses. Getting the basics right at local level is essential for the government to deliver on bigger national plans. Now is the time for a new government to set a new course for renewed investment in local public services.”

Notes

[1] Further funding cuts for councils would be disastrous; urgent funding and reform is needed | Local Government Association

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Why won’t Labour even consider putting water companies back into public hands ask Greens

Responding to the news (BBC) that a new independent commission will soon launch the largest review of the water industry since privatisation in the 1980s, Green Party Co-Leader, Carla Denyer said,

“Water is a basic human need. It should be in public hands run for people, not profit. I don’t know why Labour won’t even consider this.”


by Green Party

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Labour must “ramp up investment in better rail connections across the North of England” say Greens

Responding to the news that Labour is planning to build HS2 from London to Crewe (LBC), Green Party Transport Spokesperson, Matt Edwards, said,

“A high-speed rail line connecting only the suburbs of London to Birmingham was the worst of all worlds. The Green Party welcomes the investment in our railways, but this is just one part of the puzzle, and the Labour government needs to ramp up investment in better rail connections across the North of England and connect the cities across the North of England to high-speed rail.”

“Transport is still one of the biggest sources of emissions in the UK and high-speed rail is vital if we want to achieve Net Zero because it will free up overcrowded rail lines like the West Coast Mainline for more local services. But it needs to be done in the right way to protect the local environment.”


/ by Green Party

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Greens say “no more incineration” of waste

Responding to the news that putting household rubbish in giant incinerators to make electricity is now the dirtiest way the UK generates power (BBC), Green Party Peer Baroness Jenny Jones said, 

“I highlighted the issue of incineration stopping councils from recycling back in 2010 when I was on the London Assembly. This became a national issue about 10 years ago when local authorities across the country started to treat waste as a fuel, rather than a valuable source that could be reused or recycled.

“Unless we have a complete moratorium on new incinerators and start to close down existing ones, we will not meet either of the government’s big targets. You can’t burn oil in the form of plastic and meet the target of Net Zero emissions in 2050; nor can you sign up local authorities to 20 year contracts to burn waste and expect them to recycle 65% of waste by 2030. The last government was finally waking up to the direct contradiction between environment and incineration, I hope this government will say no more incineration and put this big mistake into reverse.”


by Steve Hynd

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